


Hot Chocolate

by Candy_Kittens



Category: Malcolm in the Middle
Genre: Angst, Christmas, Christmas Season, Coffee, College, F/M, Fluff, Malcolm attends Harvard, Malcolm doesn't want to talk to his family, Malcolm is a bit of an egotistical self-absorbed ass, Post-season 7, Starbucks, Winter Break, but what's new there?, christmas break, there's a sixth Wilkerson kid in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2019-09-17 23:45:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16984086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candy_Kittens/pseuds/Candy_Kittens
Summary: -- a Malcolm in the Middle Malcolm Wilkerson Christmas fanfic --Every morning Malcolm goes into Starbucks to get his morning coffee before heading off to class, and every day he's served by the same red headed barista - who he may just be falling in love with.When he finds out that she's not doing anything for Christmas this year, he takes it upon himself to invite her around to his apartment to spend Christmas with him. He's not planning on doing anything either, and he's been ignoring the calls from his parents for him to come home this Christmas, so why not spend it with a cute girl who's not doing anything for Christmas either?also posted up on my Wattpad, @-hawkwing





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've decided to write a new Christmas themed fic, and this time it's a Malcolm in the Middle fanfic! A Malcolm/ofc fanfic to be exact.
> 
> I'm not entirely sure how long this'll be, but it likely won't be very long, and I intend on it being completed by the end of the month, if not early next month. _at least, I'll try to have it finished by then...._
> 
> Now, I'll mention here now that in this there's not five, but six Wilkerson children, and the sixth child is a girl. I honestly just like to imagine that they finally got a little girl after five boys. Also, this is set a couple years after the last episode in season 7.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

The jingle of the bell ringing as he enters Starbucks is something that Malcolm has become accustomed to over the last two and a half years. Almost every morning before he heads on off to his first class of the day at Harvard, he always stops in at Starbucks to get himself a coffee.

Definitely not the most healthiest kickstart to the day, but it's whatever. He often never has enough time in the mornings to make himself a coffee, so he opts for going to get himself one from Starbucks instead. Gives him the excuse to see the cute redheaded barista almost everyday.

_I gotta stop being such a pussy and ask her out already...._

If his mother had any idea about the amount of times he goes into Starbucks each week, she'd probably have a fit - much like she does with almost everything. Luckily Malcolm doesn't have to worry about that anymore. Two and a half years it's been since he last lived under his parents roof, and he feels he's much better for it.

As he waits in line to be served, he looks towards the clock on the wall. He's got twenty minutes till class starts, which should give him enough time to get his coffee and chat with Chelsea Barton (the cute redhead who's always the one to serve him) for a bit, before he walks the remaining few blocks to campus. In the cold December air....

"Hey, Malcolm." Chelsea smiles, once Malcolm finally reaches her. "The usual?" She's served him so many times that she knows his order off by heart.

"Yep." He nods, glancing back towards the clock. He's still got plenty of time before he needs to get to class.

"So, you doing anything for Christmas?" Chelsea asks as she begins making Malcolm's order.

Malcolm sighs, shaking his head. He doesn't plan on doing anything for Christmas. His parents have been calling him to try and get him down for Christmas this year seeing a he bailed out last year. But he's made a point to ignore their calls, even when it's his younger brother Dewey calling.

He'd rather not spend Christmas with his family, even though he does miss his brothers and his baby sister. He just doesn't fancy celebrating Christmas with them all. Something _always_ manages to go wrong when the Wilkersons are all together under the same roof, and just like last year, he'd rather not be a part of it.

Not to mention he knows that his grandmother Ida will be there. He doesn't understand how that evil old bat is _still_ alive after all these years. Knowing his grandmother though, she's probably going to be staying alive for awhile yet _just_ to torment them all.

"I don't plan on doing anything." He says. "My parents have been calling to try and get me to come home for Christmas, but when my whole family is together under the same roof, something is bound to go wrong."

"Really?" Chelsea asks. "They can't be _that_ bad."

Malcolm laughs a little, shaking his head. "You've _never_ met my family." He says. "My older brother Reese is a dimwit with a criminal record taller than I am, my oldest brother Francis does too but it's not as big as Reese's. My mom's a loudmouth control freak who thinks she _always_ has to be right, my dad likely isn't all there in the head, and my two year old baby sister is _already_ just as bad as my brothers and I combined."

He may have over exaggerated a bit, but it's close enough to the truth. His whole family has something wrong with them. Truthfully his little sister isn't even as bad as he claims, but he has no doubt that once she's older she'll be just as bad as her older brothers. With the Wilkerson's luck, there's a high chance that she will be anyway.

"I think my younger brothers Dewey and Jamie are probably the most normal along with myself, but that's pushing it. They're both still pretty horrible, especially Jamie." He adds. It's a wonder how he's not anymore fucked up than he already is....

Chelsea shakes her head a little at that. She's almost positive that Malcolm is over exaggerating. No family can be as bad as he claims. "Sounds like an interesting family you've got there." She says, handing him his coffee once it's done.

Malcolm huffs. "Terrible, not interesting." He says, grabbing his credit card out of his wallet to pay for his drink. "So, you doing anything for Christmas this year?" He asks, deciding to change the subject and maybe stop being such a little bitch and possibly ask her out on a date sometime - despite the fact she's two years older than him.

It's not like he's not been with an older woman before anyway. He did sleep with a woman who was closer to his mother's age back when he and his family went to Burning Man a couple years ago. Unfortunately it seemed as though only Reese and their mother ended up enjoying themselves there, while everyone else had a horrible time, especially their father.

"Nah." She shakes her head. "I intend on just staying in with my cats and maybe a bottle of Jack Daniels." She says. "My older brother and his boyfriend were going to come over, but they can no longer make it."

Malcolm notes that she seems to be a little disappointed by that, and he wishes he could relate. He doesn't care if he doesn't get to see his brothers or his sister. Though he'll admit that he misses Reese's cooking. Reese is the _only_ decent cook in their whole family.

Before he gets the chance to say goodbye to Chelsea and head on off to campus, an idea pops into his head. One that he's not so sure if she'd be up for. It's worth a shot asking though, this could be one of his only chances to ask her out.

"Since you're not doing anything, why don't you come round to my apartment and we can spend Christmas together?" He suggests. Saves them both having to spend Christmas alone. Will also give them a chance to get to know each other more.

After all, Malcolm _really_ likes this girl. Though he's not so sure how she feels about him.... He's never been able to read girls very well. His I.Q. may be high, but when it comes to girls, he's _almost_ as stupid as Reese is. Just almost, not completely. He doesn't think that anyone can be as stupid as Reese.

Chelsea is quiet for a bit, deep in thought. "Well, I have the three days before Christmas off along with Christmas and Boxing Day, so... I think I might just need to take you up on that offer." She smiles. "I've got nothing else to do, so it'll be nice to spend Christmas with someone other than my cats."

Malcolm smiles in success. He didn't think it would be that easy to invite her over for Christmas, so he's very glad she accepted his offer. He should've tried asking her out ages ago. Then again, she may not see this as a date - which it isn't - and wouldn't actually want to date him.

_I should really stop overthinking things...._

"Great!" He says. "If your still here around lunchtime I'll come and give you my phone number." He adds, glancing at the clock.

He's still got time till he has to be in class, but he doesn't want to hold up the line any longer than he already has. Though, there doesn't appear to be a hell of a lot of people in here right now, not even any uni students, or at least not any that he recognizes.

Then again, he doesn't really talk to a lot of the other students he goes to uni with, and unfortunately for him, his best friend Stevie Kenarban doesn't attend Harvard alongside him. Chelsea is likely the only person he even talks to on an almost daily basis.

"Sounds good." Chelsea says, before they're waving each other off, and Malcolm is headed off down the street to campus.

As he walks down the street, his much too big jacket hugged close to his short frame that is thankfully doing a good job in keeping him warm, and sipping away at his hot coffee (it's nothing special, just a white chocolate mochaccino), he smiles to himself. Glad that he actually succeeded in having Chelsea agree to spend time with him for Christmas since they're both not doing anything.

_Maybe Christmas won't be so bad this year. I don't get to spend it alone or with my family, but with a cute girl. What could go wrong?_

He stops. Suddenly over thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong. Knowing his luck if he starts thinking that something bad will happen, chances are that something bad _will_ happen....

_Okay... I should probably just stop thinking about that and just concentrate on getting to class...._

Shaking his head, he continues on down the street, adjusting his hold on his shoulder bag with all his belongings in that he needs for today, and sipping at his coffee. Now's not the time to dwell on the fact that he's going to be spending Christmas with a cute girl. Right now is the time to focus on his studies.

Though, the fact that he's going to be spending Christmas with Chelsea might not be as easy as he thought to try and not think about while he should be focusing on his studies....


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as he gets home from his last class of the day, all Malcolm wants to do, is just lay out on the couch and possibly have a quick nap. Unfortunately the first thing he's met with as he enters his apartment, is his phone ringing, and he has no doubt that it's his parents or even Dewey trying to get him to come home for Christmas.

He has no desire to answer the phone to find out for sure though. He's very content in not seeing any of his family at all for as long as possible. And spending Christmas with them all? It just doesn't sound very appealing to him, even with the fact that Reese is doing all the cooking. That's probably the _only_ thing that he'll miss about spending Christmas with his family.

Besides, he's already got a date for Christmas with Chelsea. Well... it's not _exactly_ a date, more like just spending Christmas together as they're both not doing anything else. So, he's already booked for Christmas, and actually _has_ an excuse not to go home for Christmas this year.

Though even if he didn't already have stuff planned he wouldn't go back home to spend Christmas with his family anyway. If he was to go back home for Christmas, it just likely won't end very well, so he'd require a _very_ good reason to go back home for Christmas. And Reese's cooking isn't one of them, no matter how good his cooking tastes.

He lets the phone go to the answering machine as he heads on into his small kitchen to make himself a coffee and get something to eat. Along with his kitchen being tiny, his whole apartment is rather tiny. One small bedroom, one tiny bathroom, and a small kitchen connected to a small living area. It was one of the only decent ones available in his price range, and it's big enough for just himself. And a bonus, it's not too far from school.

Though it would've been a lot easier for him to stay living on campus like he had done previously, he had decided that he just wanted his own space away from school. So far living here on his own has worked out fairly well. Rent is decently priced too.

" _Malcolm, please pick up the phone._ " He groans as he hears his mother's voice filling the kitchen from the phone's speaker.

Just as he predicted, it's his mother calling him... _again...._ He definitely doesn't intend to pick up the phone and talk to her.

_Can't she just leave me the fuck alone already? Why hasn't she figured by now that I'm not interested in coming home for Christmas?_

Actually, he knows exactly why she's not figured it out by now. Chances are she _has_ very much figured that out, but is set on getting him to come home. After all, she'll do whatever she has to to make something happen, and she has a hard time letting things go, and this is no exception. Malcolm just wishes she'd give up already, no matter how wishful thinking that may be.

_Well... actually it's not all that hard to figure out why she hasn't really, but still.... I wish she'd just give up trying to get me to come home for Christmas already...._

Choosing to ignore it like he's done so for the past few weeks, he goes about his business, making a coffee, and fixing himself up a quick snack to eat. It's basically the same thing each time she tries calling him, and he wishes he could say that he's surprised that she's _still_ calling and trying to get him to come home a week and a half before Christmas. But really, it doesn't surprise him at all.

He is however surprised that she hasn't yet driven all the way out here to get him to come home, whether it be by talking him into it, or dragging him all the way home by his ear. There's still a about a week and a half till Christmas, so the possibility of that happening is _still_ fairly open.

Switching on the TV and sitting down on the couch as his coffee and food is done, he flicks through the channel trying to find something decent to watch and just relaxes. He's got maybe about four hours to kill before he has to head off to his shift at the service station tonight.

Oh, how he's so not looking forward to having to deal with customers at all tonight.....

Though seriously, what type of person goes out to the service station at midnight to get fuel for their car?

Well, he supposes people travelling through the area quite late at night and are running out of fuel, but still... at _this_ time of year when the weather is only getting colder? Why would you even want to go out at all? He understands the few customers coming in just to buy a few items of food or whatever at midnight, as it's one of the only stores open at that hour of the night, but he _really_ wouldn't fancy having to go out at night at this time of year. Too bad he has to almost every night.

He's honestly met some very strange people while working at the service station. Which he guesses isn't all that different from when he worked at the Lucky Aide with his mom - which he hated, but needed the money despite how shit the pay was. Working at the service station isn't any better though, but at least he's not having to work with his mother. Oh, is hie glad that he doesn't have to work with his mother....

Grabbing his mobile phone out of his pocket, he flips it open to check the time, seeing as he needs new batteries for the clock he has on the wall. It's not too terribly late in the afternoon, it's only twenty past three, so he's got plenty of time to relax and maybe take a nap before he's got to head on out to the service station at eight.

He also checks to see if he has any text messages, and isn't all that surprised to find that he has none. It's not like he has very many friends to text anyway, and he's never given his parents or any of his brothers his mobile number. He also only _just_ gave Chelsea his number around lunchtime today while he had a break between classes, so he doesn't really expect her to text him straight away, or even at all. It would be nice though, but she's more than likely busy right now, especially if she's only just finished up her afternoon shift.

Besides, what he feels as though he needs the most right now, is to rest before he has to go out to work. Thankfully it's the weekend tomorrow though, so he'll get Saturday off. But then he's got a shift at the corner store on Sunday morning at ten till two.

Unfortunately for him though, both his jobs at the service station and the corner store aren't his _only_ jobs. On Tuesdays and Thursdays at midday he works at one of the local bookstores. All to pay for everything he needs including rent and his college tuition.

He's surprised how well he's managed to make it all work, despite not having a very large amount of money, but it's not like he goes out spending big money, and walks around wearing designer label clothes. Almost all the clothes he buys - aside from obviously socks and underwear - he buys from thrift stores, as buying second hand goods is just so much more cheaper, _especially_ with his budget. He can't say that he's surprised that that element from his upbringing has managed to stick. There was bound to be something from his upbringing that would stick.

As the phone rings once more, he groans in annoyance. He wouldn't be surprised if it's his mother calling _again_ , or his father even. Hell, it might even be Dewey. But, much like before, he has no desire to answer it.

He almost feels tempted to unplug the phone from the wall just so he can get some peace and quiet before he's off to work, but he just can't be bothered getting up off the couch to do so. In fact, he can't be bothered getting up off the couch at all right now.

All he intends on doing right now is to take a quick nap, before he needs to take a shower then get ready for work. He feels exhausted right now, and truthfully, that coffee isn't really helping him stay awake. If anything, it's making him feel a bit more tired - the exact opposite of what it should do.

Sighing, he turns the TV off, and just lays there on the couch staring at the ceiling. The insistent ringing of the phone being the only sound throughout the whole apartment, and Malcolm has to stop himself from throwing something at it. He can't afford the money to buy a new phone, he has enough things to pay for without adding a new home phone to the list.

Doing his best to ignore the phone, Malcolm slowly finds himself beginning to fall asleep. Not a very good sleep, but sleep nonetheless. Just... if only his thoughts weren't so clouded over by his family. It seems as though even in his dreams he cannot escape his family. On the bright side though, at _least_ he's not living with or anywhere near any of them anymore....


	3. Chapter 3

The night shift at the service station runs slow for Malcolm. Not that he doesn't expect it to, it usually always runs terribly slow, _especially_ when he's the only employee on site. Which also totally sucks, as he's got no one to talk to at all.

Though it wouldn't really be that different compared to if he was stuck at home. Well, apart from the fact that if he was home right now, he'd more than likely be asleep.

He'd very much welcome sleep right now if it weren't for the fact that he's working currently. Unfortunately, sleep is going to have to wait until he gets back to his apartment. He doesn't fancy getting fired for sleeping on the job. He's not _that_ irresponsible.

Glancing outside the store windows, he sighs as he doesn't see any customers coming anywhere near the store to get gas or anything. Which on one hand, he's kind of thankful for? Having to work the night shift here does mean that he doesn't really have to deal with a lot of people after all. Occasionally he has to deal with a couple of weird folks though, but he can usually manage it on his own. It's just that it gets terribly lonely being the only person working.

At least, most nights he's the only one working. Some nights there's another employee on site, but he barely knows the guy, as they don't really talk when they're working the night shift together. So really, there's not much of a difference.

If only he could text or call Chelsea right now, just so he has at least some form of human contact, even if it is through a phone. Knowing how late it is right now though, she's likely to be asleep, so there's no point in even attempting to text her.

He supposes another upside of working this late and on his own is that he doesn't need to put up with having to listen to shitty Christmas music during his entire shift. The fact that he's working along means he gets full control over the store stereo, so no Christmas music, but good old classic rock. He's not too sure how long he'd last if all he had to listen to was Christmas music.

Looking up as the door opens distracting him from his thoughts, he spots a couple of teenage girls entering the store. He can only assume that they're either on their way to a party or coming back from a party and are looking to buy food as the group of them head on off to the small snacks aisle. Though as he looks closer at them, they don't look like they're heading to or from a party, so they could very well just be here for a midnight snack run.

Thankfully they don't take too long in choosing their snacks - there's really not a big selection to choose from anyway - and they're paying for everything and out of the store in no time.

If he's being honest, Malcolm feels rather glad that they didn't stay in the store for very long and were relatively quick about their purchase. He doesn't expect it, nor is he at all surprised that none of the girls even attempted to flirt with him. He's never been very popular with girls - or guys for that matter - and he's often been told that he looks quite young for his age, and quite short for his age too.

It doesn't bother him too much these days that people say that though. He's used to it and has learnt to deal with it, he _knows_ he's awfully short and always has been, and maybe he should start taking it as a compliment when people say he looks young for his age....

Sitting back on his chair, Malcolm sighs, staring up at the clock on the wall. Half past eleven.... He's _still_ got a couple hours left in his shift, and he just wishes that the time will go by much faster than it already has. He just wants to get back to his apartment and sleep. Thank god he's not got any work tomorrow. Thankfully that's his day off, and he can do whatever he pleases tomorrow - which is likely going to be sleeping for the whole day, and ignoring his parents phone calls.

_I wish it would hurry up already and be time for me to go home. I just want to get some sleep...._

Though, there is the slight issue of that when it's finally time for him to clock out that the guy or girl coming to take over for him will be a bit late, which means he'll have to wait around for a bit longer. He does get a little annoyed by that, but it's whatever. He'd hate to have to wake up as early as they do to get to work, and as a matter of fact, he's had to do that quite a few times, and he hates it.

He's not entirely sure how much time has past when the doors open again, and he finds himself sitting up n surprise as he sees that it's Chelsea who's walked in. now _that_ , he wasn't expecting at all, considering it's pretty late, if you'd consider half eleven, nearly twelve at night to be pretty late.

_I wonder what Chelsea's doing here?_

He watches as she heads on off to the small aisle where the very select selection of pet food is located, which gives him an idea of to why she's here this late. She's likely getting more food for her cats. But at this hour? He wouldn't have thought that this would be an ideal hour to go out and buy cat food. Then again, he's never owned a cat, so really how's he to know?

As she makes her way to the register, carrying two large bags of dry cat food, Malcolm notices that she appears to be in her pajamas buy the looks of it.

_Huh, she's wearing Care Bear pajamas.... I wasn't expecting that...._

"Hey, Chelsea." He says, getting ready to serve her.

"Hey." She smiles, setting the bags of cat food down on the counter. "I swear to god my boys didn't want to let me get _any_ sleep until I went out to get them more fucking food."

Malcolm laughs a little as he scans both bags. "They that bad?"

She huffs, nodding. "You try dealing with two big Maine Coon cats when there's absolutely no cat food at all in the house and they refuse to wait until I go out and get more tomorrow." She sighs. "I love them and all, but they both sure are a pain in the ass. And they eat so much."

"I take it that's why you're in your pajamas then?" Malcolm asks.

"Yeah." She laughs, looking down at herself. "And I know. A 22 year old wearing Care Bears pajamas."

"I think they look good." Malcolm says truthfully. He _really_ doesn't think they look that bad on her. In fact, they look quite nice on her. Or maybe he just thinks that cause he's in love with her....

She smiles at that, before frowning as she looks at the two bags of cat food on the counter. "I think I need more bread and milk." She says, before she's heading off to get some. "I'll be right back."

Malcolm nods, laughing a little as he watches her head off towards the aisles with the bread and milk. He's so in love with her. He doesn't know _how_ it happened - well actually he _kind of_ does - but it did.

Unfortunately though, he doubts she sees him more than a friend. He _is_ a couple years younger than her after all, and while it personally doesn't bother him, it may bother her. Though he rather doubts that, and he's probably just not her type, but anything's possible.

"There." Chelsea sighs, as soon as she gets back and sets the loaf of bread and bottle of milk down on the counter next to the cat food. "I _think_ that's all I need to worry about getting right now." She says, getting some money out of her pocket to pay for everything as Malcolm rings her up her total.

"Let's hope it is." Malcolm agrees, handing her the bag with her items. "By the way, I know Christmas is still a couple weeks away, but what type of food do you like?" He asks. "Just so I know what to buy and what not to buy to make for us."

"Uh, I'm fine with anything." She says. "So anything is fine, and I can bring round a few things too if you like?"

Malcolm nods. "Alright. That sounds great!" He smiles. "Though, I should probably warn you that I'm not the best cook."

He's _really_ not a very good cook, but he's going to at least attempt to cook something. Just, whatever it is that he decides to cook, it's likely that it won't be very fantastic. He's not the cook of the family, that's Reese - who while is a complete idiot with everything, when it comes to cooking, he's a literal genius.

Chelsea laughs, shaking her head. "Don't worry. I'm sure your cooking isn't that bad." She assures him. "To tell you the truth, I'm not a very good cook myself unless it's mac n' cheese I'm cooking."

Upon hearing that, Malcolm feels a little better. They both aren't the greatest cooks, but honestly, the food really isn't what's important. Besides, he's sure that they'll have some alcohol to wash it down with. Though, he won't be the one to buy it, seeing as he's underage.

"Well that makes me feel a little better." He laughs. "Two people spending Christmas together and eating terrible food." He's almost sure the food won't be that terrible, but it likely won't be the best.

"I'll bring some alcohol with me to wash the terrible food down." Chelsea smiles. "I know you're _still_ underage though, so it won't be a lot." She warns.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Malcolm admits. "And I don't drink a lot anyway, so it's not much of a bother how much you bring."

He's almost certain the only time that he's drunk too much alcohol was during Thanksgiving a few years back. Admittedly that was one of the worst Thanksgivings they've ever had, and he was the one to ruin it. And Reese had spent so much time and effort into all the food, for it to all just go to waste.

"Alright." Chelsea says, glancing up at the clock. "I should to get back to my cats." She apologizes. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." Malcolm waves her off as she makes her way to the doors of the store. "And good luck dealing with your cats!"

She looks over her shoulder at him, flashing him a smile and a wave, before she's gone out of the store. Leaving Malcolm once again alone in the store watching on after her and instantly missing her company.

_I think I've fallen too deeply in love with her...._


	4. Chapter 4

It almost seems like the days leading up until the day before Christmas have flown by way too fast, but Malcolm finds himself being glad about that. He's been very much looking forward to spending Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Chelsea, and now that she'll _finally_ be coming over soon, he can't wait.

Though he's a bit worried that he's going to screw something up, most likely the cooking. But, he's dome okay so far at not thinking about that, and so far the food he has cooked for tonight doesn't look so bad. However, they _still_ may taste terrible, especially with his cooking abilities.

He's hoping that the food Chelsea ends up bringing with her will be a lot better than his, which with his _very_ poor cooking skills, it more than likely will be. It's times like this where he misses Reese's cooking....

Unfortunately his parents and Dewey have _still_ been trying to contact him to get him to come home for Christmas even when it's the literal day before Christmas. He's honestly impressed - yet annoyed - at their persistence in their continued phone calls to get him to come home.

Just this morning not too long ago now he had gotten a call from his father asking him to please come home and spend Christmas with the family. Though unlike every other call he's gotten so far, his youngest brother Jamie and even his baby sister had spoke on the phone, saying how much they miss him and they want him to come home.

He must admit he was surprised to hear Jamie and their baby sister. _Especially_ when they don't really talk a hell of a lot, especially his two year old baby sister unless there's something that she _really_ wants. Malcolm is almost positive that once she's older she'll end up being a lot like their mother, and potentially worse than him and his brothers combined. She's _already_ getting pretty close to that level, so he can only imagine how much worse she'll be once she hits her teen years.

Or she may be a complete saint, and be the _only_ member of the family to not get into trouble all the time, and be the one good kid in the Wilkerson family. But that's just not _very_ likely to happen. She's got five older brothers, four of them who are way too reckless for their own good. Jamie isn't so bad so far, but he's likely to end up just like the others as well.

Then again... Jamie  _did_ almost kill their mother once before.... But the blame for that could very well be placed on Reese, as he had been giving Jamie cans of energy drinks in the first place.

Shaking his head a little, Malcolm attempts to just forget about his family as he gets on with all the work that still needs to be done before Chelsea turns up in a few hours. While a lot of what he's doing may be half-assed, he'd much rather have it all finished by the time she gets here.

He's not making a hell of a lot of food, just enough for two people. Chelsea's going to be bringing some stuff round anyway, so they don't need too much food. He's not sure what Chelsea will be bringing round with her, but he's almost certain it's going to be better than what he's made.

All he's decided to cook, is a small turkey roll with stuffing and cranberry sauce in the middle, along with some roast vegetables. Nothing too fancy, and the turkey roll isn't very big, he just got the biggest size he could afford, which really is quite small, but just big enough for two people. They'll have more food to go with it anyway.

He's managed to make a small bowl of coleslaw and potato salad too to go with everything else, and now he just needs to get what he needs to of the dessert made. Which, if he's being honest, is likely the easiest thing to do out of everything.

The dessert that he's decided on making isn't really anything special, just a small sponge cake that he intends on icing with chocolate icing and whipped cream. Probably the most bland thing out, but it's all he can afford, along with a pack of lime jelly which he's only just finished making and is in the fridge currently setting. He's hoping Chelsea will bring round a bit for dessert too, maybe a tub of ice-cream or something, nothing too flash. He's almost sure that Chelsea also doesn't have a lot of money much like himself.

Luckily once he's done with preparing everything for later he only has to do a little bit of tidying up the place, as he did spend quite a bit of time yesterday cleaning up his apartment and doing a bit of vacuuming - which he really doesn't do as often as he should.

He's almost sure that his apartment hasn't looked as clean as it does now since he moved in. Usually there's bits of paper, a few books, old chip packets, soda bottles, and dirty clothes strewn across the floor. He's _really_ not the most tidiest person out, and his apartment's only small, just a small kitchen, small bedroom, small bathroom, and a small living area.

To be fair, he never has guests over, and he's often always busy with work or school to worry about cleaning, and more often than not when he's not busy, he's sleeping or just too tired to do anything but lay out on the couch and watch TV.

Right now is one of the rare occasions that he actually has a reason to tidy up his apartment. Though, he should really work on keeping it tidy all the time....

_I hope Chelsea doesn't think I'm trying to hard...._

He looks around at what he's managed to make, the jelly setting in the fridge, both the bowls of coleslaw and potato salad in the fridge, and the turkey roll and roast vegetables cooking in the oven that barely even gets used.

_I don't think I am.... All the food is pretty poor and cheap, but.... Am I trying to hard?_

Shaking his head, he sets the finished cake into the fridge for the icing to set until later tonight. He's almost positive that he's never made this much food in his entire life, and while they may not taste the best and may not be the most amazing dishes out, he's quite pleased with himself for actually making it all.

Though if he's being honest, he'd kill for whatever it is that Reese will be cooking the family for Christmas tomorrow. He's sure Reese will be going back home for Christmas anyway, but he's not completely sure. Otherwise he would have invited Reese around to do the cooking for him. Then again, he's not sure Reese would do that even if he paid him to do it. They haven't exactly spoken to each other in quite awhile, probably not since the beginning of the year.

In fact, truthfully he's not really spoken to _any_ member of his family in months, so he's really been avoiding speaking to them for much longer than a few weeks....

It's not that he's embarrassed by his family - though, he actually _is_ kind of embarrassed by his family - it's just that he's done so much better without any interference from any of them. He always knew that he'd be better off without them. It doesn't stop him from missing them though, but he's better off without them all in his life. He's not sure why they haven't gotten the message yet, and haven't just given up trying to contact the. Though persistence is one of his mother's strong points after all.

Losing track of time as he gets everything ready and tidies up the place, Malcolm barely notices that it's not just after two in the afternoon, and that Chelsea will be here really soon, if she isn't here already. It wouldn't surprise him if he didn't hear her knocking at the door cause he's too preoccupied with getting everything ready. Though, he's almost positive he hasn't heard anyone knocking on the door just yet, but he could be wrong.

Grabbing his phone off the table, he checks it to find he has a text from Chelsea saying she's on her way now. That was ten minutes ago now, so she should be here very soon. He's not exactly sure how far away from him she lives, but he's sure it can't be too far away, so he's going to guess she'll be here any minute now.

As if on schedule, there's a knock on the door, proving his prediction correct, and Chelsea has arrived. He knows that the only person it could possibly be is Chelsea, no one else ever comes over, and he rather doubts it will be his mother or father - though there is the slight possibility that it _could_ be, but it's more likely to be Chelsea.

He quickly straightens a few things out, and gives himself a once over in the mirror near the front door, making sure he's presentable enough for her, before he's opening the door and letting her inside.

"Hey." He greets her, moving out of the doorway to let her inside.

"Hi." She says, making her way inside, carrying a few plates of food and a couple bags with more food. "I hope I brought enough food."

"I'm sure you did. In fact, we may have a bit too much for just two people." Malcolm says, before takes the plates from her, wanting to be helpful, and leads her into the kitchen where they set everything down for later.

"Nice place you got here." Chelsea says, looking around the room, as she takes off her jacket, and hangs it over the side of one of the couches, before sitting down.

"Thanks. Though it's nothing fancy." Malcolm says, taking a seat next to her once everything is put away for later. "You look nice."

She's not wearing anything flash and her hair isn't really done up in anything fancy, but she is dressed up just enough for the occasion, and Malcolm thinks she looks even more beautiful than ever. Though, that may be because he's only really ever seen her dressed in her Starbucks uniform.

"Thanks." She smiles. "You look good too."

Malcolm also isn't really wearing anything fancy, he doesn't really own any fancy clothes, but the clothes he's wearing right now is the best he could manage to find in his closet. He hasn't really bothered to do anything with his hair though, just brushed it back so it looks tidy enough. Though, he should really get it cut soon, he's not gotten it cut in awhile, and it's managed to grow a lot longer than he's used to it being. It's almost at his shoulders, but he's just been too busy to go get it cut.

They sit together in an awkward silence, the both of them not sure what to do now that they're here. They never really planned out exactly what they're intending on doing, just that they're going to spend Christmas together. They've not even planned out what they're going to do tomorrow, aside from using whatever food is left over from tonight for lunch tomorrow.

"Do you want a coffee or anything?" Malcolm asks, breaking the awkward silence between the two of them.

"Sure." She says, looking around at the room from where she sat on the couch, before picking a book up off the table and flicking through it.

Malcolm nods. "Okay." He says, going to head into the kitchen, but stops. "I should probably mention that all I have is instant coffee though." He adds. "Is that okay with you?"

Chelsea nods. "That's fine." She assures him. "And, I take two sugars."

With that, Malcolm is heading off into the kitchen to make coffee for the pair of them. Though, as if on cue, the phone starts ringing again, and he knows _exactly_ who it'll be....

But he has no intention of picking the phone up. All he intends on doing, is spending time with Chelsea, and having a nice - well, _hopefully_ nice - dinner with her. Answering his parents calls is definitely not anywhere on his list of things to do tonight, or at all.

He's got much better things to do than speak with his family.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just mentioning now that I've decided that this fic will only have a total of ten chapters, so we're now at the halfway mark.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

As soon as it's time for dinner, Malcolm and Chelsea have more than enough food for the both of them. Along with the turkey roll and roast vegetables that Malcolm has cooked - thankfully without burning anything - and the coleslaw and potato salad he had made, Chelsea had also brought around with her a small chicken roll with stuffing, and a salad. For dessert she just brought along a tub of ice-cream with her, and a pack of mini chocolate eclairs.

It's clearly likely to be too much food for the pair of them, but at least they'll have plenty of leftovers for later if they're still hungry. Which saves them both the hassle of preparing more food later.

"I'm surprised how well this actually managed to turn out." Malcolm admits, as the two of them sit at the small table in the kitchen, plates of food set out in front of them.

He _really_ is surprised that everything turned out good enough to eat, and he didn't burn anything. This is his first time cooking food for more than one person. He thought for sure that he'd burn something, or this night would be a complete failure. But so far, everything's gone great, and hopefully it stays that way.

"So am I honestly." Chelsea admits. "And it's a good thing is has all turned out well."

Malcolm nods, smiling as he fills his plate with food. Chelsea does the exact same thing, and Malcolm has to stop himself from staring at her.

He's so in love with her and this would be the perfect time to officially ask her out. Only, he's too chicken to do so. That, and he has no idea if she likes him more than a friend.

As they both eat, they make small talk between one another. Chelsea asking Malcolm how his classes are doing, to which Malcolm proudly boasts that he's doing very well, and he's at the top of his class. It seems as though having to announce to everyone that he's smart hasn't left yet. He's getting much better at toning it down though, but it's _still_ painfully there, and has always been there since he was young.

He's always had a rather large ego....

Along with discussing how Malcolm's schooling is going, they talk about a other things, and get to know each other more. And with every new thing that Malcolm learns about Chelsea, he somehow falls even more in love with her.

Unfortunately though, it doesn't take very long for their conversations to be cut short as the phone starts ringing. Which causes Malcolm to groan in annoyance.

"It's probably my mom or dad." He sighs, shaking his head. "They're still trying to get me to spend Christmas with them and the rest of the family."

He's really beginning to think that he should've unplugged the damn phone earlier....

"They must miss you if they keep trying to contact you." Chelsea says. "You sure you're content in not spending Christmas with them?" She asks. "They _are_ your family after all."

Malcolm huffs, shaking his head. "I _really_ don't want to spend Christmas with them." He says. "There's something wrong with _everyone_ in my family, probably me included." He sighs, shaking his head. "I _do_ miss them though, but not nearly enough to spend Christmas with them all. Something _always_ goes wrong when we're all together."

"Well, maybe this year will be different?" Chelsea suggests, glancing over in the direction of the phone as it goes straight to voicemail. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind going with you." Chelsea continues. "I wouldn't mind meeting your family/"

"Trust me, you _do_ _not_ want to meet _any_ of them." Malcolm says. " _Especially_ my mom."

"She can't be _that_ bad." Chelsea says.

Malcolm shakes his head. "Oh, she really _is_ though." He says. "You do not want to know what she's like."

Malcolm doesn't even want to think about any of the things that happened during his childhood and how terrible his mother is, and thankfully Chelsea doesn't press the matter further.

Though he will admit that his mother isn't as bad in the sense of abusing him and his brothers. There may have been some emotional abuse, sure, but she never laid a hand on any of them in a way that wasn't in the form of discipline, but even that was a rare occurrence.

She _did_ punish them a lot for misbehaving though, which he won't admit it to anyone, but now that he looks back on everything, he and his brothers deserved it with all the shit they got up to. By all means none of them were perfect, but at least they damn well tried.

They do not speak anymore of Malcolm's family after that, and just enjoy each others company as they eat the food they had made - which surprisingly enough, doesn't taste that bad at all.

**********

Later on in the evening, and both Malcolm and Chelsea are just sitting out on the couch in the small living area watching crappy Christmas movies while sharing a six pack of beer together and a bottle of wine. They had both eaten all that they could manage, and now it's just time to sit out on the couch together and watch crappy movies.

They never exactly planned in full how they'd spend the next couple days together, just that they'd spend it together cause they've got nothing else planned. Having dinner together and watching crappy Christmas movies while drinking some alcohol together seems to be working out well for them anyway, so that's all that they're doing. It's not like there's anything else to do anyway.

Though, Malcolm _can_ think of one thing that they could do, now that he's given it some time to think. That being going and spending Christmas day with his family after all despite how set he was on not doing so.

_Okay, is it just the alcohol making me consider it, or do I actually want to go spend Christmas with my family after all?_

He kind of hopes it's just the alcohol making him think that, but truthfully, he's not drunk enough of it, so that likely rules that out. So maybe he _really_ does actually want to go see his family after not seeing them for many months. At least if they do decide to do that after all, it would end up being much more interesting than this, as something will surely go wrong, or some sort of argument will break out.

He never thought he'd think it, but he's starting to feel a little homesick just thinking about it. Which is strange, considering he's never felt homesick before, even with having not lived at home for the past few years since leaving for Harvard.

"Chelsea?" He asks, catching the red-head's attention. "Are you sure you'd be interested in spending Christmas with my family?"

If they do end up spending Christmas with them, he wants to be absolutely sure that Chelsea is one hundred percent interested in doing so.

She looks over at him. "I thought you said you're content on spending Christmas away from them?" She asks.

Malcolm shrugs. "I don't know." He shakes his head. "The more that I think about it now, the more I'm considering it." He says. "But I want to make sure if you'd be one hundred percent interested in it."

Oddly enough, something deep inside him hopes that she really is interested in it. But even if she isn't interested in going there after all, then that's fine with him.

She's quiet for awhile, before smiling. "I'd love to." She says. "I'm interested in meeting your family and finding out for myself if they're as bad as you claim they are."

"Great." Malcolm finds himself smiling at that. Surprised by the fact that he's actually suddenly interested in going back home and surprising his family for Christmas. "I don't know how they'll react to me bringing you along with me though."

He's really not sure how they'd react to him bringing someone with him. He just has to hope that his mother won't react badly to it like she did when Francis brought Piama home with him as his wife on their father's birthday without so much as a warning beforehand. He's just got to hope that his mother doesn't react like that again.

Then again, it's not like he's gone off and married without telling his parents or anyone for that matter. He and Chelsea are just friends, despite that he'd like for the both of them to be something more. He's just not sure if Chelsea feels the same. Hell, he's not even sure if she's straight or not. For all he knows she could be a lesbian - which he has no problems with of course.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Chelsea says.

Malcolm nods. It's a possibility that everything will be fine, but there's no knowing with his family. "I hope you're right." He says, taking a sip of his beer. "But there's no knowing with my family...." He sighs. "They're _all_  insane."


	6. Chapter 6

Just as Malcolm had suspected, while driving to his parents house with Chelsea he begins to regret the decision. It’s very likely that this is going to be a bad idea, and he just wants to turn his car around and go straight back home. Only problem is that it would be a serious waste of gas if they were to turn around. Especially when they’re already over halfway there.

At least Chelsea  _ still _ seems interested in meeting his family and spending Christmas with them. He  _ really _ likes Chelsea so he doesn’t want to disappoint her by turning around and going back to his apartment, no matter how much his brain is screaming at him to do so.

Spending Christmas with his family wasn’t something he wanted to do, he  _ knew _ it was just the alcohol talking last night. But here he is, heading off to his parents house for Christmas with Chelsea. At least he’s got Chelsea with him and he’s not just going there alone.

However he does still feel a little homesick, and he does miss his family, he knows that much hasn’t changed since last night. But he’s not one hundred percent sure he can go though this. Especially not alone, so Chelsea being there with him will definitely bring some comfort.

He’s not surprised in the least that he’s afraid to face his family again after not seeing them in months. At least if anything happens, then he and Chelsea can just leave and head on back to his apartment. They had both agreed on that before they had left.

“You okay?” Chelsea asks, distracting Malcolm away from his thoughts.

He turns to look at her, shaking his head. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.” He admits. “Are you sure you want to meet my family?”

“I’m sure.” Chelsea says. “And, if you want to turn around, then we can. I won’t force you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”

He appreciates that, he  _ really _ does, but it’s a bit late to turn back now. “I’ll be fine.” He says, shaking his head. “I’m just scared to face them all I guess.” He sighs. “I haven’t seen them all in so long, and I had reserved myself to keep it that way for as long as I can.”

Even if he had planned to never see his family at all, he knew that that plan would crumble eventually. He just hoped that it would’ve lasted longer than it has.

Chelsea sighs. “At least I’ll be there with you so you won’t be doing this by yourself.” She sends him a smile.

“That’s another thing.” He sighs. “I don’t know how they’ll react to me bringing you with me - my mom especially.”

He’s got a bad feeling that his mother isn’t going to react very well with him bringing Chelsea with him,  _ especially _ with no prior warning.

_ Unless I’m just overreacting, and being a total idiot about it all. _

Maybe he  _ is _ just being paranoid and everything will be fine. It’s not like he and Chelsea are dating and he isn’t bringing her home with him as his girlfriend or wife. He’s just bringing Chelsea with him as a friend, so maybe things won’t turn out too bad?

_ Who am I kidding, it’s mom. Of course she won’t react well to it. _

He just hopes he’s wrong about that….

“Also I think my grandmother will be there.” He sighs. He  _ really _ doesn’t want to have to deal with her on top of spending Christmas with his family. “And fair warning if she is there, she’s pure evil, and the only reason she’s even still alive is to make all our lives miserable.”

With any luck his grandmother won’t be there after all. But he had heard on one of the voicemails his mother sent him that she’ll be there, so it’s not looking very likely that she won’t be there. Though if he remembers correctly, he  _ thinks _ in the voicemail his mother had said that this is likely to be his grandmother’s last Christmas, so she wants the whole family there for it.

_ I’m starting to hope it will be her last Christmas…. At least I won’t have to see her at Christmas again next year if it will really be her last Christmas. _

He knows that’s a terrible thing to say about his grandmother, but with a grandmother as bad as his, it’s excused. Or, he feels as though it’s excused at least….

“You can’t really mean that about your grandmother, can you?” Chelsea asks, surprised to hear Malcolm talk about his grandmother like that.

Malcolm huffs out a laugh, shaking his head. “ _ You’ve _ never met her.” He says, looking over at her before turning his attention back to the road. “Just wait until you meet her, then you’ll understand.”

**********

As soon as Malcolm pulls up in front of his parents house, he sighs. Everything is exactly how it looked when he still lived at home. Not that he expected it to change very much in the two years since he’s lived there.

His parents are too interested in sex than they are cleaning up the house to make it look nicer. Which explains why the house and everything they’ve ever owned is crap,  _ and _ why he’s got five siblings. His parents can’t keep their hands off each other.

“Welcome to the Wilkerson house.” Malcolm says, turning to Chelsea, who looks surprised to discover how poor condition the house and front yard is. “I know, it’s crap.” He says. “Just wait until you see the inside.”

The inside where his family is, all of them with no knowledge of the fact that he’s decided to show up after all.

“It doesn’t look  _ that _ bad.” Chelsea says. She wasn’t expecting a big flash house, though, she wasn’t entirely sure what she was expecting really. “And I wouldn’t say it’s crap, just small. Though the front yard definitely needs some attention.”

“Trust me, nothing’s ever going to be done to the front yard or the backyard while my parents still live here.” He says. “It’s been like that for years.”

He doesn’t even remember when the front yard actually had grass that wasn’t dead or vegetation that’s more alive than it is now. Well, maybe only once before, but that literally only lasted a week or two at the most, then it was back to dead grass and barely alive vegetation.

“The house is also much smaller on the inside.” He adds. “Only two bedrooms, so my brothers and I had to all share a room. I never even had my own bedroom let alone my own bed until I left for college.”

“And I thought my family was poor.” Chelsea comments.

Malcolm looks over at Chelsea, before looking over towards the house. He’s afraid of what will happen as soon as they walk through those doors. Afraid of how his parents - most his mother - will react to him bringing Chelsea with him. But now that they’re here, they’ve got to go up there.

“Time to face the devil.” Malcolm sighs, getting ready to exit the car, and finding Chelsea doing the exact same thing. Though she doesn’t seem as nervous as he is.

They walk up the the grass towards the house, Chelsea sticking close to Malcolm’s side as some form of moral support, which he greatly appreciates. If she wasn’t here with him right now, he’s not so sure he’d have the guts to face his family right now.

Taking a deep breath, Malcolm knocks on the door and waits for either his mom or dad tp answer the door, or even one of his brothers. Chelsea stands off to the side, out of sight so whoever opens the door won’t be able to see her.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually the door opens, and Malcolm finds himself face to face with his mother, who looks surprised to see that he’s actually shown up.

Malcolm knew that it would be his mother to answer the door rather than his father or one of his brothers, or even his baby sister….

“Malcolm.” His mother, Lois, says, surprised to see Malcolm standing there in front of her.

Malcolm smiles a little, suddenly feeling small as his mother looks him up and down. Her eyes lingering a little longer on his hair that’s much longer than usual and desperately needs to be cut.

_ “Hi mom....” _


	7. Chapter 7

“I didn’t think you were going to show up.” Lois says, folding her arms across her chest.

Malcolm shrugs, shuffling around a little, not meeting his mother in the eye. “I didn’t think I was going to either.” He says. “But I’m here now.”

Lois stares at him, nodding as she looks over him closely. “What’s with the hair?” She asks.

“I’ve just been too busy with work and school to get it cut.” He says, which isn’t a lie. He  _ has _ been too busy to worry about getting a haircut.

She nods, seeming to accept that answer. “Well it’s good to finally see you again, Malcolm.” She says, moving out of the doorway to let him inside.

Though, Malcolm makes no move to go inside. He’s  _ still _ got to introduce Chelsea to his mother before he can go inside. Just  _ hopefully _ his mother will like her. If she doesn’t, well they’ll just be going straight back home without so much as a hello to the rest of the family.

It’s not like Chelsea is his girlfriend or anything though. She’s  _ just _ a friend, so hopefully things will go okay.

“Uh, mom?” Malcolm starts. “I want to introduce you to someone first.”

He doesn’t look over at his mom as he turns to Chelsea so he’s got no idea of her reaction to this, and can only hope that she’ll react fine to it. Grabbing Chelsea’s hand, he brings her into view of his mother so she can meet her, all the while praying that his mother won’t explode.

As Chelsea comes into his mother’s view, Malcolm finally looks over at her, discovering that she looks surprised to find that he’s brought someone with him. He also finds himself worrying about what she’s going to say as she looks over at him, waiting for him to talk.

“Malcolm, who is this?” Lois asks, looking between Malcolm and the stranger next to him. She wasn’t expecting this.

Malcolm looks over at Chelsea, before turning back to his mother. “Mom, this is Chelsea Barton.” He says. “She’s a friend of mine.”

_ She better not react terribly to this…. _

“Hi.” Chelsea says, waving a little, as she begins to feel a little intimidated by the woman standing in front of her, and staring at her.

She supposes that this must be what Malcolm was referring to. Though she’s still not convinced that she and the rest of Malcolm’s family are as bad as he says they are.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to be bringing a guest.” Lois says, looking towards Malcolm, before turning back to Chelsea, holding out a hand for her to shake. “I’m Lois.” She says, as Chelsea shakes her hand cautiously. “If I knew that Malcolm would be bringing a friend from college with him then I would’ve cleaned up the house a little more.”

No she wouldn’t have. Malcolm knows for a fact that she wouldn’t have done that. The house is constantly a mess, and that’s not likely to change.

“That’s okay.” Chelsea says. “And, I’m not actually a friend from college. I work at the Starbucks he regularly goes to, and I’m usually the one that serves him.”

Malcolm looks over at her. Even though it’s the truth, he didn’t particularly want his mother knowing that he goes to Starbucks regularly. Not that he  _ really _ cares what his mother thinks about what he does with his own money.

“Oh, well okay then.” Lois says, surprise to hear that her son regularly goes into Starbucks. Though she can clearly see why, only she’s not too impressed that he’s wasting his money there. “Come on in then.”

She stands out of the doorway, and both Malcolm and Chelsea follow her inside.

Malcolm has to fight the urge to run out of there as soon as he steps foot inside. All he wants to do is run out of there and never return.

Fortunately, Chelsea grabs his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze in reassurance. The gesture takes him by surprise, he wasn’t expecting for Chelsea to grab a hold of his had at all. But he very much appreciates the gesture nonetheless, and he tries to ignore the way his cheeks begin to heat up.

“That wasn’t so bad.” Chelsea says, once Lois has disappeared off into the house somewhere.

Malcolm just nods. Surprisingly that went well. Better than he expected it to anyway. But there’s still time. Something’s bound to happen eventually. Chelsea  _ still _ hasn’t met his brothers, his baby sister, his father, or worst of all, his grandmother yet. There’s still time for something to go haywire.

_ There’s still time. There’s still the rest of my family after all…. _

“You okay?” Chelsea asks.

Is he fine? “Yeah, I’m fine.” He says. At least he’s fine for now anyway. “And jst give it time. You’ve only met my mother so far.” He tells her. “There’s  _ still _ the rest of my family.”

Speaking of the rest of the family….

It doesn’t take long for Jamie and his baby sister, Charlie, to come running at him from somewhere in the house, knocking him to the floor. Luckily Chelsea only just manages to move out of the way before she’s knocked to the floor too.

Malcolm knew that would happen…. Both Jamie and Charlie  _ always _ do that. Though he’s kind of missed this. He only now realizes that as he sits up as much as he can manage to and hugs his two youngest siblings. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he  _ really _ has missed the two of them, even though they both are a pair of little monsters. But what else is to be expected? They’re Wilkersons after all.

“Hey!” He says, as they both hug him back, knocking him back to the floor in the process. “What have you two little monsters been upto? And you’ve both gotten bigger since I was home last!”

He doesn’t really expect them to answer. They both don’t really talk much unless they want to or they have to. Though they both are quite talkative around Dewey, mostly because he still lives at home, whereas Francis, Reese, and Malcolm have all moved out already.

“Chelsea, meet the youngest members of the family, Jamie and Charlie.” Malcolm says, looking up at Chelsea, who’s staring down at him and looking like she’s trying not to laugh.

“Looks like they’ve missed their older brother.” She says.

Malcolm nods. It appears that they have. Now if only they could get up off him so he can get back up. The floor isn’t exactly very comfortable after all, nor is it the cleanest….

_ “Malcolm!” _

He looks up to find that it’s Dewey that has called his name and is standing in the entryway staring at him. Though he makes no move to go over to his brother, and just stands there watching him.

Reese on the other hand appears to be nowhere to be seen. Judging by the sheets hung up covering the kitchen though, Malcolm can guess where Reese is most likely to be.

“Hey, Dewey.” Malcolm says, finally able to get up off the floor as both Jamie and Charlie climb off him and run over to Dewey. “You’ve gotten taller.” He comments, looking his brother up and down.

Dewey now appears to be taller than him, and Malcolm isn’t sure how he feels about that. He’s always been short, but he didn’t think that Dewey would end up becoming taller than him.

“And you’re still a short ass it seems.” Dewey says. “Which isn’t surprising, though what did you do to your hair?”

_ Is everyone going to be asking about my hair today? _

“I just haven’t gotten it cut in awhile.” He shrugs. He’s also unsure of when he’ll finally be getting a haircut. It’s not one of his main priorities at the moment. “Been too busy with work and schooling.”

“I think it looks nice.” Chelsea says, as she ruffles it up a little.

He ducks his head a little as heat rises on his cheeks for the second time in the span of twenty minutes or so. He only briefly takes notice that Dewey has seemed to notice the blush rising on his cheeks. Luckily though, Dewey makes no comment on it.

Either way though, the main thing he manages to register, is that Chelsea thinks his hair looks nice.

_ Chelsea thinks my hair looks nice? Did I hear that right? _

“Who are you?” Dewey asks, looking from Chelsea, then to Malcolm - which in turn, makes Malcolm realize he hasn’t introduced Chelsea to him.

“This is my friend, Chelsea Barton.” Malcolm says, before turning to Chelsea. “Chelsea, this is my younger brother Dewey.”

“Hi.” Chelsea says. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Dewey says.

“Hey, what’s that smell?” Chelsea suddenly asks, looking to Malcolm, then to Dewey.

Now that she’s pointed it out, Malcolm can smell it too. It’s not a bad smell at all, in fact it’s quite the opposite. Though he can already guess that it’s whatever Reese is cooking. Which confirms that Reese is here.

“That’s just Reese preparing the Christmas dinner.” Dewey says. “Though word of advice, he won’t let anyone in the kitchen, so I wouldn’t go in there if you don’t want anything thrown at you.”

_ Yep. That sounds exactly like Reese. _

That doesn’t surprise Malcolm in the least. That is  _ exactly _ what Reese would do, so he thinks it’s probably best to wait a bit before introducing Chelsea to Reese. Not that he’s even all that excited to introduce her to Reese in the first place anyway….

It doesn’t look like Francis is here with Piama yet, so he’s going to have to wait awhile to introduce her to them too. Thankfully his grandmother isn’t here yet either by the looks of things. He can definitely wait to introduce Chelsea to her. In fact, he’d be perfectly fine not introducing her to his grandmother at all.

“Well it smells delicious.” Chelsea says. “Malcolm said he was a good cook, so I’m looking forward to trying whatever it is he’s cooking.”

Reese is a  _ very _ good cook, Malcolm won’t deny that. Reese’s cooking is one of the only things he’s looking forward to for later on. Introducing Chelsea to Reese though, isn’t one of them. He’s glad he’s got to wait awhile before he can.

Though there’s  _ still _ his father that he needs to introduce her to. Who knows where he is though….

“Where’s dad?” Malcolm asks.

Dewey shrugs. “I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

Malcolm isn’t sure if he likes the sound of that, but it’s likely that his father has just locked himself in the garage to listen to his old records in peace or something. It sounds exactly like something he’d do.

“What about Francis?” He asks. “Is he and Piama here yet?” He can already guess, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

“No, not yet.” Dewey says, shaking his head. “He and Piama had to go pick grandma up, so they probably won’t be here for a little while.”

He thought so, and he’s glad that he’s not in Francis’s place right now. He’d hate to be the one who has to pick their grandmother up. He doesn’t think he’d be able to cope if he had to, and he’d rather not have to put Chelsea through the pain of having to ride in the same car as that monster.

Though that confirms that his grandmother  _ will _ be here for Christmas with the family after all, and he  _ really _ doesn’t want to have to see that hateful old hag.

_ Why did mom have to invite grandma? _

“So grandma will be here after all then, huh?” He asks,  _ really _ not wanting to deal with her.

He also has a nagging worry that his grandmother will say something to hurt Chelsea. If that happens, then they’re out of there.

“Unfortunately.” Dewey sighs. “But at least you’ve decided to show up.”

He’s here, but he  _ really _ would rather be anywhere but here. At least he has Chelsea here with him, and that they’ve both agreed that if anything were to happen, that they’d leave right away.

“Yeah, I didn’t exactly plan on coming honestly.” He says. “But, plans change.”

“I didn’t think you’d end up showing up this year.” Dewey says. “Especially when you never answered any of our calls.”

Malcolm nods. Now that he’s here, he finds himself feeling bad for not answering any of his family’s calls. But what’s done is done, and at least he’s shown up after all, even when he had no intention to show up at all.

“Yeah well…. I was just too busy to answer them.” He says. It’s not  _ exactly _ a lie, he  _ has _ been busy. “I have three jobs I need to work, then there’s school work on top of all that.”

Dewey nods. “That’s what I figured when you wouldn’t answer any of our calls.” He says. “Either that or you just didn’t want to talk to any of us.”

He’s not going to say anything, but that is partly the reason why. He didn’t particularly want to talk to any of them, along with being too busy. Dewey and the rest of the family don’t need to know about that though.

He goes to say something, but he’s suddenly engulfed in a tight hug by none other than his father, Hal.

_ Well that answers where dad is…. _

“Hey, dad.” He says as he hugs his father back.

He’s always preferred his father more than his mother. Though his father  _ is _ an idiot, but at least he’s not a control freak and a loudmouth like his mother. Though there have been times where his father is the one yelling, but mostly it’s his mother doing the yelling.

“Malcolm, I didn’t think you were coming!” Hal says as soon as he pulls out of the hug, before he’s frowning a little. “What did you do to your hair?”

_ Great, yet another question about the hair…. _

Malcolm shrugs. “I didn’t think I was going to come,” He says. “And I’ve just been too busy to get a haircut.”

Hal nods, seemingly accepting that as a good enough reason. He goes to say something else, but stops as he notices Chelsea standing next to Malcolm. “Who’s this?”

Malcolm looks over to Chelsea, before looking back to his father. “Dad, this is a friend of mine. Her name’s Chelsea Barton.” He says. He’s not too worried about his father’s reaction. “Chelsea, this is my father, Hal.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Chelsea says, holding a hand out for Hal to shake.

Hal takes her hand in his. “Hi.” He says, shaking her hand. “Malcolm’s never mentioned you before. Do you go to college with him?”

No. Malcolm’s never mentioned her to his family, because he never had the intent to introduce her to them, so he’s never felt a need to mention her to them.

“I don’t go to college with him.” Chelsea says, glancing over at Malcolm, before looking back to Hal. “I work at the Starbucks not far from the college grounds, and Malcolm’s a regular customer of mine.”

“Oh, okay.” Hal says, smiling a little. “Well it’s very nice to meet you, and so nice of Malcolm to bring you with him.”

“Well, I’m glad to be here.” Chelsea smiles.

Chelsea may be glad to be here, but Malcolm still hasn’t figured out if he’s glad to be here or not yet. At least things seem to be going better than expected so far.

Maybe he was wrong in thinking that something bad will happen? Maybe just this once everything will be okay?

If only he could believe that. He finds it difficult to believe that, especially when his grandmother will be here….

But so far things have been going okay with Chelsea meeting his family, so at least that’s not turned out to be a disaster. At least, not yet anyway. Chelsea  _ still _ hasn’t met Reese yet, nor Francis, Piama, and their grandmother once they show up.

And when they do show up, Malcolm can only hope that things won’t go haywire. But really, when do things ever go right for any of the Wilkersons?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell, I got _very_ stuck on what to write for this chapter....

Malcolm thought and hoped that they'd get a bit more peace before everything begins to turn to crap, but as it turns out, he was wrong. Which really doesn't surprise him.

Not even fifteen minutes after he and Chelsea have arrived at his parents house, his oldest brother, Francis, shows up with his wife, Piama. And following them inside, a lit cigarette in her mouth and yelling out insults every which way? The evil old woman who could probably give Satan a run for his money, the woman who they have the misfortune of calling their grandmother, Ida Welker.

Tapping Chelsea on the shoulder to get her attention from where she sat talking with Dewey, Malcolm warns her that things will likely go from zero to a hundred now that his grandmother is here. Though Chelsea doesn't seem to look too worried about it.

"Malcolm, relax." She says. "I'm sure that everything's going to be fine."

Her words should help him calm down and that everything might end up going perfectly well after all. But Chelsea has never met his grandmother before, and while he's sure she's had the misfortune of having to deal with rude and bitchy customers, his grandmother is on a whole other level entirely. Chelsea has no idea what she's about to encounter.

"Well, our grandmother _is_ pretty horrible." Dewey says. "You think you'll be able to handle it?"

Malcolm finds himself glad that Dewey is backing him up here. Their grandmother _is_ horrible, and he just doesn't want her to do anything that'll in some way hurt Chelsea. Though that seems as though he's asking for a little too much. Of course she's going to say _something_.

_I just hope I'm overreacting and worrying too much about this...._

Unfortunately, he can already hear his grandmother arguing with Francis about god knows what. He doesn't bother to pay attention to what they're arguing about.

"What is all the yelling about?" The three of them turn around, finding that it's Reese who has spoken, finally showing himself for the first time since Malcolm and Chelsea had arrived. "Everything needs o be quiet while we're cooking!"

"Francis and Piama just got here with grandma, and of course, Francis and grandma are arguing about something." Dewey says.

"Well, can someone _please_ tell them to move it outside?" Reese asks. "Jordan and I cannot concentrate on our cooking with all this yelling!"

Upon hearing the name Jordan, Malcolm finds himself confused on who that is. He has no recollection of Reese having a friend named Jordan, or anything. To be fair though, he's not spoken to Reese for about a year, maybe more.

Reese goes to say more, but he stops as he notices Malcolm sitting there. "Malcolm." He says. "I thought mom said that you wouldn't be showing up?"

Malcolm shrugs. "I wasn't planning on it, but I changed my mind." He says, before looking over at Chelsea. "Reese, this is my friend, Chelsea." He introduces them. "Chelsea, this is Reese."

Chelsea waves at him, while Reese nods at her. "Hi." He says, before turning his attention back to Dewey. "Go tell Francis and grandma that if they want to keep arguing, to take it outside." With that, he's turning around and walking straight back into the kitchen.

"Who's Jordan?" Malcolm asks, as soon as Reese is out of sight and ear shot.

"His girlfriend." Dewey says. "She's just as good of a cook as Reese is." He adds. "I think he met her at this cooking school he's been going to."

That surprises Malcolm to hear that. The fact that Reese has a girlfriend, and that he's been attending a cooking school, is hard for him to believe. The fact that Reese of all people is actually going to school - albeit it being a cooking school - even more so than the fact that Reese has a girlfriend.

_Huh, sounds like Reese has got his life together more than I thought he would...._

Though maybe it's not too much of a surprise that Reese has been attending a cooking school. He's always been good at cooking, so it shouldn't be that surprising that he's gone back to school to further his skills. Then again, it's Reese....

"I'm surprised Reese has actually gotten his life together." Malcolm says. " _And_ that he's got a girlfriend."

Though it's not like Reese hasn't had a girlfriend before. It's just surprising that someone would actually want to be with him.

It's more than what he can say for his life honestly. All he's been doing is school and work, nothing more. It may sound good, but sometimes it just feels like it's draining the life out of him. It doesn't help that he doesn't have a lot of money.

"You should've seen how surprised mom and dad were to hear about it." Dewey says. "Mom almost didn't believe it when he told her and dad."

That's definitely believable, Malcolm knows that for sure. Of course their mother wouldn't believe that Reese has actually gotten his life together.

"I don't blame them." Malcolm says. "Reese actually going back to school?"

Dewey nods. "I know." He says. "What's even more surprising an hard to believe is that he's top of his class."

Now that, Malcolm finds hard to believe. Then again, it's a cooking class, and Reese is excellent at cooking, so maybe it's not too far fetched to him to be top of his class.

"Why is it hard to believe?" Chelsea asks.

"Reese has always been terrible at school." Dewey says. "He also had to repeat his senior year."

Malcolm nods. "Though he did purposefully flunk his exams _just_ so he was forced to repeat his senior year." He says. " _And_ so he didn't have to move out of the house or find a job for another year."

_Maybe_ _Reese_ _is_ _actually_ _smarter than_ _people_ _give_ _him_ _credit_ _for_ _...._

The thought of Reese being smarter than people give him credit for puts a weird taste in his mouth....

Chelsea nods. "You know, that's not _exactly_ stupid." She says. "Kind of brilliant if you ask me. Well, in the sense that he would've had to work hard to completely flunk his exams so he wouldn't have to repeat classes in summer school."

In a way, Malcolm knows she's right, but it was also idiotic. Then again, Reese actually managed to do it. He's not sure if there are any others who could completely flunk their exams the way Reese did.

Though Reese is _still_ a complete idiot. The only thing he _really_ has got going for him is his cooking.

The three of them don't dwell in the subject much longer, and just sit and talk about random stuff until it's time for dinner.

**********

Eventually, the whole family is seated around the table waiting for the dinner to start. Thankfully Ida has yet to say anything bad towards Chelsea, and Malcolm is hoping that it's going to stay that way. But unfortunately he doesn't think it's going to last.

He has however noticed his grandmother staring at Chelsea a bit, but he speaks nothing of it. Chelsea doesn't seem to notice her staring anyway.

"So, Chelsea." Lois says, being the first to break the awkward silence as they wait for Reese and Jordan to come out of the kitchen with the dinner. "Tell us a bit about yourself."

Chelsea looks over to Malcolm, before looking at Lois. "There's not much to say really." She says. "I have a job at Starbucks along with a part time job at the library. I have two cats, the both of them two big Maine Coons named Sparrow and Theon. Who are both likely to be tearing my apartment up by now."

She's not lying. Both of her cats are huge. They had to stop by her apartment before they got here to check up on them and put food out for them. However they both are gorgeous cats.

"I have an older brother, and I'm twenty two years old." Chelsea goes to say more, but is cut off from Ida.

"Hah! The boy can't get girl younger than him so he settles for one older." She says. "Surprised he managed to get girl at all."

_There it is...._

Malcolm _really_ isn't surprised by his grandmother's words....

"Mother!" Lois sighs, clearly frustrated with her mother.

"Grandma, Chelsea and I are just friends, we're not together." Malcolm says. "And she's only two years older than me."

He looks over at Chelsea to find that she looks shocked by what Ida has said. But before she gets the chance to say anything about it, Reese finally comes out of the kitchen with dinner followed by a blonde woman who Malcolm assumes is Jordan.

Malcolm must admit, she's not bad looking. He's surprised that Reese has managed to score someone like her.

"Wow." Chelsea says, as she stares at all the food that now lay on the table.

"I told you he was a good cook." Malcolm says, looking over at her. "Just wait until you taste it all."

The one thing Malcolm definitely misses when he's not spending Christmas at his parents - or Thanksgiving for that matter - his Reese's cooking. It'd the only thing that make spending Christmas with them worth it.

Though so far things hang gone too bad, apart from what his grandmother had said. But surprisingly things have been going okay so far. Much better than he had expected, and he's beginning to think that _maybe_ he was overreacting and worrying about nothing.

And thankfully, the rest of the dinner seems to go by with no issues, aside from a bit of complaining from Charlie. Which as a result, came with her plate of food being thrown to the floor in the midst of her tantrum.

Other than that though, there wasn't any more issues during dinner, and everything seems to be going better than expected, and just as Malcolm had promised Chelsea, the food was fantastic.

_Maybe this Christmas_ _isn't_ _turning out so_ _bad_ _after_ _all...._


	9. Chapter 9

After dinner is over, Malcolm offers to do the dishes along with Dewey. He's not sure why he offered to do them though, but he guesses it probably has something to do with him wanting to help in some way.

As he dries the dishes and puts them away while Dewey washes them, he finds his gaze drifting over towards Chelsea who sat on the sofa talking with his mother and Reese's girlfriend Jordan, and his sister in law Piama.

He's got to admit, he's glad that his mother likes Chelsea. He was afraid that his mother wouldn't like her, so it really makes him happy to see that his mother likes her. He's also glad of the fact that Piama likes her too, but it was his mother that he was more afraid of not liking her.

"You like her, don't you?" Dewey asks, distracting Malcolm from his thoughts.

"Wh-what?" He stutters, his cheeks turning a shade of pink as he looks over at his younger brother. "We're just friends!"

_Okay_ _,_ _I_ _do_ _like_ _her_ _..._ _a_ _lot_ _._ _But_ _,_ _is_ _it_ _really_ _that_ _obvious_ _to_ _see_ _?_

"Come on, Malcolm." Dewey sighs. "You've been staring at Chelsea ever since the both of you got here." He says. "And definitely in a _'_ _I'm_ _so_ _in_ _love_ _with_ _you_ _,_ _but_ _don't_ _have_ _the_ _balls_ _to_ _admit_ _it'_ kind of way."

Malcolm sighs, shaking his head. "Am I really _that_ obvious?" He asks.

If Dewey can tell, then what's to say that it's not equally as obvious for the rest of the family to see that he likes her?

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious, dude." Dewey says. "Why don't you ask her out?"

"Like you said, I don't have the balls to ask her out." Malcolm sighs, looking over towards Chelsea. "And when has a relationship ever gone well for me anyway?"

Every relationship he's been in has never lasted very long. Mostly because he manages to fuck them up somehow, so who's to say it won't be the same if he and Chelsea were to get together? He doesn't even know if Chelsea likes him more than a friend to begin with.

But what he wouldn't give for just this once a relationship to actually work out and last longer than a couple weeks. As far as he can remember, the _only_ relationship he's been in that lasted for more than a couple weeks was Nikki.

Though now that he looks back on it, his and Nikki's relationship was not a good one. Not to mention her father was scary and possibly a little _too_ overprotective of her to the point they had to sneak around every time they wanted to see each other.

Malcolm's just glad that Nikki's father never tried to kill him. But he was damn scared that he would do so if he ever caught them.

"Well, maybe Chelsea will be different." Dewey says. "Malcolm, I don't know her very well, but she must feel _something_ for you if she agreed to come here of all places with you."

"Well, actually _she_ talked _me_ into coming back here." Malcolm admits. "I think she wanted to come here more than I did myself."

"You don't think that means more than you think it does?" Dewey asks.

Malcolm looks over at him as he goes back to washing the dishes in the sink, not saying another word.

In a way, Malcolm feels as though Dewey is right. Maybe Chelsea _does_ like him enough to have wanted to come here? Or she might've been just trying to be a good friend.

Either way, Malcolm doesn't know what to do, nor does he have the balls to ask Chelsea out. He's never been good at this type of thing.

_I've_ _got_ _to_ _figure_ _out_ _how_ _to_ _tell_ _Chelsea_ _that_ _I_ _like_ _her_ _more_ _than_ _a_ _friend_ _before_ _I_ _miss_ _my_ _chance_ _...._

Sighing, he gets back to drying and putting away the dishes. All the while his mind and gaze drifting off towards Chelsea, and how he can possibly tell her that he likes her more than a friend _without_ making a fool of himself....

**********

It's a bit later during the night when Malcolm finally picks up the courage to talk with Chelsea in private outside. Though he's _still_ incredibly nervous to tell her how he feels about her.

He's afraid that Chelsea doesn't feel the same way about him, but there's only one way to know for sure. To tell her how he feels, then wait for her to react to that, and he's just hoping that her reaction won't be a bad one.

"What was it you need to talk about?" Chelsea asks, once they're both outside in the backyard sitting out on the swingset - that Malcolm is surprised is _still_ standing after all these years.

Malcolm sighs, not looking Chelsea in the eye as he grows nervous with every passing second.

_Here_ _it_ _goes_ _...._

"Chelsea, I..." He trails off. "I've never been very good at this, so ill just say it now before I somehow embarrass myself." He says. "I... I like you _a_ _lot_ _._ "

He can't meet her eyes as he waits for her to react. He's afraid of what her answer to that will be, and he's afraid that it may have damaged their friendship if she doesn't like him back the same way.

"You do?" Chelsea asks.

Malcolm nods, not looking at her. "I know it may sound cheesy, but I've liked you a lot ever since we first met."

He's hoping that that admission hasn't scared her off. That's the last thing that he needs. Though, as Chelsea gets up off the swing she's sitting on and walks over to him, holding on to the chain of the swing that he's sitting on, he realizes that it doesn't seem to have scared her off.

"You know, that's kinda cute." She admits. "And well... I like you a lot too."

Malcolm looks up at her at that. "Y-you do?" He asks, at a loss for words. She actually likes him too. He wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah." She nods. "You're cute, funny, and I _really_ like you, Malcolm. I like you _more_ than a friend."

Malcolm is just stunned into silence. He never expected her to like him back more than a friend. But now that he knows that she _does_ like him... maybe they can give being together a try?

Getting up off the swing, Malcolm pulls her in for a hug, to which she gladly accepts.

_I_ _can't_ _believe_ _it_ _!_ _She_ _actually_ _likes_ _me more_ _than_ _a_ _little_ _friend_ _!_

"So, you wanna be my girlfriend?" Malcolm asks, after they've pulled out of the hug.

Chelsea nods. "I'd love to." She smiles, before she's kissing his cheek.

Malcolm can't help but blush at that, and he pulls Chelsea in for another hug. He can't believe that she actually wants to be his girlfriend, this is the best news that he's had in a long time.

He's beginning to think that _this_ Christmas really isn't so bad after all. Nothing bad has happened like he thought it would, well, aside from what his grandmother had said, but still. Everything's turned out much better than he thought it would.

Chelsea is his girlfriend now, and this Christmas has gone surprisingly well.

Though, now they've just got to decide when they're going to tell the family about them....

Malcolm doesn't quite want to tell his family just yet. He's thinking about leaving it till some other time to tell them, _especially_ when he and Chelsea only just got together. They'll give it some time before they announce it.

For now though, they just stay outside together for a little while longer by themselves, enjoying each others company. Before it eventually gets too cold to stay outside much longer, and they retreat back inside to the rest of the family.


	10. Chapter 10

"Here." Malcolm says, handing Chelsea a mug of hot chocolate, which she gratefully takes from him.

It's much later on during the night, and both Jamie and Charlie have long been sent to bed, and now the adults and Dewey are the only ones still awake sitting in the TV room watching a movie. Though Ida seems to have gone off to bed, which Malcolm is rather glad about.

Taking his seat on the couch next to Chelsea, Malcolm puts an arm around her shoulder as she moves closer to his side. A move that Malcolm notices that no one else seems to have noticed, except for Dewey who's sitting on the floor on one of the old bean bags he had to drag down from the attic.

He doesn't mention anything about it though, which Malcolm is thankful for. He doesn't quite want the rest of the family to know about him and Chelsea just yet. Though they may be able to guess, but _only_ guess. He's not ready to tell them yet.

Not to mention the fact that he and Chelsea only _just_ got together. It seems much too early to announce it. In fact, is _is_ much too early to announce it.

So he just sits back on the couch with Chelsea and watches whatever movie they have playing on their crappy TV - by the looks of it, it's one of the Home Alone movies - and sips at his hot chocolate slowly.

**********

The next morning, Malcolm is awoken early by both Jamie and Charlie jumping on top of him.

Certainly not the way he had hoped to wake up. But it sure seems to have amused Chelsea as she sits on the couch across from him as she reads some book that she's grabbed off the shelf.

"Get off me, you two." Malcolm groans, trying to sit up under the weight of his youngest siblings.

The two of them don't budge, and stay firmly seated on top of their older brother.

Malcolm sighs, looking over towards Chelsea. "How long have you been up?" He asks.

She shrugs. "Not long." She says. "It's still early, so I'm not sure if anyone else is up yet. Your mother is up though."

"Most of my family never usually gets up early unless they have to." Malcolm sighs. "Were you comfortable last night?" He asks. "I know it's not five star accommodation."

Chelsea nods. "Yeah, this was surprisingly comfortable." She says. "How about you?"

Malcolm shrugs, as best as he can manage anyway. "As comfortable as sleeping on a foldout cot can get."

It wasn't very comfortable, but he managed. It wouldn't be the first time he had to sleep on something that's not very comfortable. He's just glad that Chelsea got the couch.

Though if only his family home was bigger, and actually had enough sleeping space for twelve people. He's surprised that everyone actually managed to have somewhere to sleep.

Chelsea nods. "Do you want me to go get you a coffee?" She asks, glancing over towards the kitchen. "I think your mother just put a pot of coffee on."

Malcolm nods gratefully. He'd go get one himself, but both Jamie and Charlie don't seem to be making any move to get up off him.

He watches her get up off the couch and head off into he kitchen before turns to Jamie and Charlie.

"Are you two going to get off me?" He asks, to which they both sake their heads. No.

He sighs, leaning his head back on the pillow. He guess he shouldn't really complain, he barely gets to see these two. And he's sure that they both just miss him a lot an want to spend as much time as they can get with him before he leaves.

He supposes that he can give the two of them that. He's missed them both too, despite what little monsters they both are.

Over in the kitchen, Chelsea makes her way in slowly. Lois is sitting at the table waiting for the coffee to finish, and Chelsea suddenly finds herself growing a little shy as she faces Malcolm's mother.

"Morning." Lois greets. "The mugs are in the cupboard up there if you want a coffee."

Chelsea nods. "Thank you." She says, sitting down at the table as she waits for the coffee to be done.

"You sleep okay last night?" Lois asks. "I apologise for the lack of space."

"It was fine." Chelsea assures her. "Better than I thought it would be honestly."

Lois nods, smiling. "So, has my son picked up the courage to ask you out yet?" She asks suddenly, taking Chelsea by surprise.

Chelsea sits there, a loss for what to say to that. What _is_ she supposed to say? She can't tell her that Malcolm had just asked her out last night, she's not so sure that Malcolm wants anyone knowing yet.

"I-I uh..." She stutters. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

Yes, she _does_ know exactly what Lois means. But she wasn't expecting her to say anything about it.

"Honey, it's not that hard to see that Malcolm likes you a lot." Lois smiles. "And if I'm not mistaken you like him to?"

Now Chelsea _really_ doesn't know what to say, as she feels her cheeks heat up a little.

"Don't worry. I approve of it." Lois assures her as she gets up as soon as the coffee is ready. "I'm glad Malcolm has found someone like you. I think you'd boh be very good for each other."

"Y-you do?" Chelsea asks, as she gets up slowly and grabs two coffee mugs out of the cupboard.

She must admit, she's glad that Lois approves. At least that'll make it easier for when she and Malcolm eventually tell everyone.

"Yep." Lois says. "I haven't known you for very long, but you're a nice girl. I'm glad Malcolm brought you with him so we could meet you."

Chelsea smiles at that, as she pours two mugs of coffee once Lois has poured her own.

As she makes her way back over to Malcolm with both of their mugs of coffee, Chelsea can't help but smile to herself. Malcolm's mother likes her, _and_ approves of them being together - even though she doesn't even know that they are together already.

This Christmas has definitely turned out better than she had hoped for.

**********

"So..." Malcolm starts, as soon as he and Chelsea are seated in his car the next day ready to head home. "What do you think of my family?"

Chelsea shrugs, sitting back in the passenger's seat as she looks o'er at Malcolm. "They're pretty cool." She says. "And I _think_ I get why you say your grandmother is terrible." She adds. "Though she didn't really seem all that bad."

Malcolm must admit, Chelsea is right. His grandmother wasn't even all that bad, which is rather unbelievable, as she's such a monster and a terrible woman. Maybe she's near death, so she decided to be less hateful. Even _that_ is hard to imagine.

"And hey, things went much better than you thought they would." Chelsea adds. "I really had a lot of fun."

Malcolm smiles. She's right. Everything went better than he thought it would. "I guess you're right." He says. "I'm actually glad that we went after all."

_I_ _really_ _am_ _._ _I_ _know_ _,_ _I_ _can't_ _believe_ _it_ _either_ _,_ _but_ _everything_ _went_ _completely_ _fine_ _._

Everything went okay. Much better than he had expected it to, and he finds himself being rather glad that he did end up going to spend Christmas with his family after all. And he's certainly glad that Chelsea came with him.

He's almost positive that if Chelsea didn't come with him, then he wouldn't have bothered to go and spend Christmas with his family.

He also finds himself glad that he actually spent time with hi family again after not seeing them all in so long. He hates to admit it, but he has missed them all a lot, even his mother. Which was quite a surprise to him.

Though he hadn't missed his grandmother... he would've been completely fine if he never saw _her_ again.

"Do you want to stop somewhere on the way back home to get food or something?" Malcolm asks, once they're on the road on their way home.

Chelsea shrugs. "Only if you want to." She says. "Though, I don't know what places are around here."

Malcolm nods. Not many places around this town are that great, but he can think if somewhere they could go to get food before they get home. He just hopes that they're open right now,

"Oh no." Chelsea sighs all of a sudden as stares down at her phone.

Malcolm looks over at her. "What is it?" He asks. "Is something wrong?"

She shakes her head, laughing a little. "Everything's _mostly_ fine." She says. "But my neighbor just texted - the one who I had asked to check on my cats for me before we left - he says that the two of them have messed up my apartment." She sighs, shaking her head. "Not something I wanted to return home to, but definitely what I expected."

"I can help you clean up once we get back if you want?" Malcolm offers.

Chelsea sighs, looking over at him gratefully. "You don't have to, but thank you."

"Hey, it's the least I could do." Malcolm says. "Besides, I'm sure they haven't made _that_ much of a mess."

Then again, he's seen how big those two cats are, so... he's rather hoping that the mess isn't too big.

Chelsea laughs. "You'd be surprised at the amount of mess Sparrow and Theon can make when they want to."

_She's_ _probably_ _right_ _about_ _that_ _._ _Both_ _her_ _cats_ _are_ _huge_ _._ _Though_ _I_ _won't_ _deny_ _that_ _they're_ _big_ _beautiful_ _majestic_ _beasts_ _._

Malcolm shakes his head, laughing a little too, before he turns his attention back to the road ahead of him.

He definitely finds himself glad that Ben after saying that he never wanted to spend Christmas with his family his year that he ended up doing so after all. And to make it better, Chelsea went with him, _and_ nothing bad happened like he thought it would.

Everything turned out better than expected, and he actually ended up having a great time.

Not to mention that another thing that occurred that he's definitely happy about.

He _finally_ picked up the courage and asked Chelsea to be his girlfriend. And she actually said yes!

_Looks like spending Christmas with my family was a good thing after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's _finally_ finished! Took way longer than I had originally planned, but at least it's finally finished! I had a lot of fun writing this even though it didn't necessarily turn out the way I had hoped, but regardless, I really enjoyed writing it!
> 
> Thank you to those who read this!


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